Do You Wanna Build A Spaceship?
by Gairi
Summary: When Mara Shepard invites Joker to her cabin for a Christmas Eve present swap, their gifts evoke feelings they didn't expect. A Shooting Stars oneshot. Rated T for slight innuendo.


A hesitant knock on the door and nervous fingers straightening a vest. Inside the room, a surprised gasp and a steady hand smoothing a skirt. Mara tapped on the keypad and unlocked her door, smiling at Joker as it opened, and he offered a little wave.

He fussed again with his vest. "You, uh, said to dress nice, so…"

She gave him a reassuring smile. "You look great." She waved him into the room and quickly snatched something off her desk. "There's just one thing missing…"

Joker took one look at the red and white hat and gave Mara the most vicious scowl he could manage.

She replied with her very best pout. "Please? It's Christmas Eve. Just do it for me."

Joker sighed melodramatically. "You better be givin' me a damn good present."

Mara grinned and settled the Claus cap on Joker's head, adjusting it multiple times as if she were trying to perfect a sculpture.

Joker's frown had cemented on his face, and he eventually batted Mara's hands away. "Cut it out, huh?" He held up the silver-wrapped box that had been tucked under his arm. "Let's just open these."

Mara held her hands up in surrender. "Alright, alright." She motioned for Joker to sit on the bed, and he smirked devilishly.

"Is _that _what my present is? Don't mind if I do."

She clucked her tongue and shook her head. "No, silly. _This _is." She scooped up a plain, lidded box from her desk and sat beside him, drawing her legs up onto the bed and placing the box down before him. "Here. This was kind of hard to find, so be careful with it."

Joker quirked up an eyebrow inquisitively. "Now you've got my attention." He pulled the blue, sparkle-laced bow off as slowly as possible, savoring the look of impatience on Mara's face. Just before she looked as if she would tear off the box's lid herself, he snapped off the ribbon with a flourish and smartly flipped the lid off.

Mara's heart fluttered at Joker's sharp gasp when he saw the box's contents. "No, Mara…" he breathed, pulling the gift from its container as gently as he would hold an infant. "No, you didn't."

"I did," she replied, her voice barely above a whisper.

Joker held the model in his hands, steady despite the thunderous beating of his heart. "The SR-1 models were discontinued. How did you even _find_ one?"

Mara shrugged. "I didn't. I had Garrus and Tali help me put it together last week."

A light switched on in Joker's brain. "_That's _what you were scrambling around with! I knew you were up to something." He paused, taking in every detail of the miniature ship. He stretched his neck down to peer into the bridge, but grunted in disappointment when he only saw dark windows. "They didn't do any interiors on this thing?"

Mara shook her head. "I wish." She let him admire it for another moment before she lightly placed her hand on his knee. "I have another one, still in pieces. I figured maybe you'd want to put it together with me."

His eyes flicked up to hers. He felt like his throat had been scraped out with a brush, but he swallowed and nodded. "Yeah," he managed. "But what are you gonna do with two of 'em?"

She smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear. "_I_ just have one. When we put the other one together, I'll give it to you." She paused, then added, "Memories, right?"

Joker nodded again and looked back down at the ship. He gently set it in the box and put his hand on top of hers. "Wait," he said suddenly, frowning at her. "That means… you technically just gave _yourself_ this one. I don't even _get_ a present!"

Mara laughed and leaned over, sliding her head onto his shoulder. "Come on, you have me. I think I'm a pretty fantastic present."

"Mm-hmm, but _I_ still got you an actual thing."

"Then show me this actual thing," she replied, holding out her free hand. "Come on; give it up."

Joker reached behind them and slid the wrapped box across the bed. "There. Go to town on that thing."

"So you want me to just tear it open?"

Joker grinned. "I want to see you tear into _something_. It's been way too long since you had a violent outburst. I miss the Mara who crashed around like a bull in a china shop."

Mara lifted her head off his shoulder and scowled at him. "I don't crash around."

Joker shook his head. "Look, Mars, I spent fifteen whole minutes wrapping this. The _least_ you can do is make that time completely worthless by opening this present that probably would have been just fine if I hadn't actually wrapped it."

"Okay, Scrooge, have it your way," Mara said, slipping her finger underneath the folded edge of the wrapping paper. "But if I get a paper cut, I'm blaming you."

Joker rubbed his hands together excitedly as she began to tear off the paper. Fragments of silvery snowflakes fell to the floor, and half of Joker's satisfaction was stemming from Mara's own enjoyment at destroying the wrappings.

When she'd finally uncovered the box, she quickly opened it, and a smile spread across her features. "Jeff…"

"You like it?"

Mara pulled out the picture frame and her expression was hard to place. It was indiscernible between nostalgia and serenity, but neither would completely describe it.

Joker touched her arm. "Mars? What are you thinking?"

"I'm just… ah." She sighed and gave a slight smile. "I'm just wondering what to fill it with."

"That's the point," Joker said. "It's whatever you want it to be. Leave it empty, if you can't think of anything. It's new, ready for a new picture."

"A new story," Mara added. She put the box aside and turned, facing Joker and drawing her arms around his neck. "Thank you, Jeff. This means a lot."

His familiar half-grin returned, but his eyes displayed thoughts of a reply more complex than "you're welcome."

She gave an airy chuckle and pulled the hat from his head, letting her fingers brush through his hair for a moment afterwards. "So what now?"

He smirked. "Are we stayin' on this bed? 'Cause, ah… I still didn't get a real present."

Mara copied the expression and shifted so she was kneeling with one leg on either side of his. "You are really pressing for this, huh? What if you're on the naughty list?"

Joker draped his arms around her waist and leaned in so their noses were just brushing. "Depends. If you're there too, I think I can manage."

She closed the gap between their lips. _Who needs mistletoe?_

* * *

><p><em>A.N.: Merry Christmas, readers! I hope you liked this oneshot. I tried to make it a little more romantically-focused than my last two oneshots were, so please don't hesitate to give me feedback on how I did. For those who follow my series, Shooting Stars, I did this without a word restriction, or a prompt. For those who don't follow Shooting Stars, it's centered on Mara and Joker's relationship and how it evolves over the course of the three Mass Effect games.<br>__I love all of you for taking the time to read this!  
><em>  
><em>And to all a good night,<em>  
><em>-Gairi<em>


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